Improvement in horse-rakes



o. 1. HARDGBOVE.

AHorse Rake.

` Patented March 22, 13.64.'.

Wnesfef; .Inval/207 Zeg.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

O. J. HARD`GROVE,`OF MASSILLON, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT IN HORSE-RAKES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 41,990', dated March 22, 1864.

i that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making apart of this speoication, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved machine, having one wheel removed to show the rake and levers. Fig. 2 is a top view of Fig. 1. Fig.3 is an enlarged view of the locking-levers, which are used to operate the rake.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspending parts in the three tigures.

This invention and improvement invwheel horse-rakes has for its object the raising and4 depressing, or the throwinginto andout of action, of the rake by means of a very simple, cheap, and easily-manipulated device, which automatically locks the rake in position when down, and enables the driver to keep the rake in an elevated position in transporting the machine from one place to another, as will be hereinafter described.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will describe its construction and operation.

In the 'accompanying drawings I have represented myinvention applied to a hay-raking machine having the transverse rocking bar .to which the rake teeth or tines are affixed supported by three or more arms, bb, which projectont behind the axle-tree A, and which are rigidly fixed to this axle. 'lhese arms b b support the rocking bar a in a position parallel to the axle-tree, and to this bar a the tines c are all attached in any suitable manner. In the present instance the ends of the tines are secured into their rockin'g bar or rake-head, and a spiral eye is formed on the upper end of each tooth for giving elasticity thereto. Semi-cylindrical strips are then inserted through all the eyes ofthe teeth, and in this manner they are secured from twisting and the teeth prevented Y from working laterally out of place.

On one side of the drivers seat B, and projectingperpendicnlarly from the axle-tree A, is a short post, g, and directly in a line with this post is an arm, lL,rwhich is fixed to and projects up from the rocking bar or rake-head a.

.lhis arm h may be screwed into the rakehead a, so that it can be adjusted, or lengthened, or shortened at pleasure, and to the upper end of this arm It one end'of a short arm,

t', is pivoted, the opposite end of which is pivoted to a curved lever, G, at'2, and this curved lever has its lower end pivoted to the short post g, as shown clearly in Figs. l and 3. This arrangement of arms forms what is known as toggle-levers, and it is now desired to make these toggle-levers in such manner that when thelong lever C is thrown back and the rake depressed to the desired point the levers will lockthemselves and prevent the rake from being casually thrown up when the machine is in operation, while at the same time the long lever C shall maintain apposition to b e readily grasped by the hand of the operator, as shown in Fig. 1, whenever it is desirable to throw the machine out of operation. To effect this object I make the joints of such length that thefulcrum or point 2 will fall below the linewx, Fig. 3, when the points of the tines touch the ground.

. Thus it will be observed that any-upward pressure ou the tines would only tend to lock them down more firmly by drawing the shoulder 3, 'which is formed on lever C, down on thejointed arm t, as shownin Fig. 3. The shoulder 3 i checked this lever will be left in a position where it can be readily grasped by the driver sitting in the seat B, who, when hewants to throw up his rake, forces the upper end of lever C forward; and when he desires to keep the rake in an elevated position for any considerable length of time, the lever() is brought. down upon the frame of the machine and held by the foot, as indicated in red lines, Fig. 1. 1n this way and by these means l not only place nnderthecontrol ofthe driver a powerful leverage, which he can use to advaniagel'or raising and lowering the rake, butl secure in the most simple manner a lock which operates auto-` h, operating substantially as and for the purlnaticaliy for keeping the rake down in place. poses described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters y O' J HARDGROVE' Patent, is Witnesses:

The combination, with a vibrating rake, of a, LEVI FULTMOR, vibrating lever, C, constructed with a. locking SAMUEL L. MYERS, shoulder, 3, pivored arm i, and vibrating arm EDWIN JARVIS. 

